The level of detail in the preceding overview of issues and
opinions serves less as a preview to the depth into which this history of the
APFC will delve (the remainder of the APFCs evolution will proceed with
more generous strides) than as a reminder of the prevailing mood and thinking in
forestry at the time. It also provides an explanation for the nature of topics
the APFC set out to address. While the enormous demand for forest products
caused by the ravages of worldwide armed conflict had exacerbated local supply
shortcomings, the central economic role played by governments as a result of the
1930s depression and wartime mobilization determined the dominant approach to
addressing these problems.

Not surprisingly, the focus on government-orchestrated
industrialization that characterized the philosophy in international development
from the late 1940s left an indelible mark on forestry development around the
globe. In the words of a founding member of the FAO Division of Forestry and
Forest Products, "after the Second World War, foresters resumed their tasks in
descending order of priority. The Third World Forestry Congress, held in
Helsinki in 1949, focused on the problems of quantity and quality; in other
words, on the forest as a source of raw materials (particularly timber and
industrial wood)" (FAO, 1995).

The inaugural First Session of the Forestry and Forest Products Commission
for Asia and the Pacific was held in Bangkok on October 9-17, 1950, where it
was formally opened by His Excellency Phra Chuang Kasetr, Thailands Minister
of Agriculture, and addressed by His Excellency Field Marshal P. Pibulsonggram,
the countrys Prime Minister.3 Thirty-three
senior-level delegates from 12 countries, and representatives and observers
from specialized international governmental institutions and non-governmental
organizations, attended the meeting at the invitation of the Director-General
of FAO (see Annex B for a detailed list of participating countries and
organizations). Initially, membership was defined as "those countries whom the
Director-General shall invite to participate in its work." Although explicit
provision was made in the Commissions Rules of Procedure for the participation
of "inter-governmental, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations,"
the Rules also specified that the meetings would be held in private.

In this context, it should be borne in mind that the majority of participating
countries at the Inaugural Session had only recently gained independence and
become members of the FAO.4 Aside from the fact
that few regional or international forestry-related fora existed at the time
(the World Forestry Congresses and Commonwealth Forestry Conferences, the International
Union of Forestry Research Organizations and the Pacific Science Associations
Standing Committee on Forestry were notable exceptions) the creation of the
Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission provided these governments with the first opportunity
to voice their distinct ambitions and concerns on a regional level. And this
they did.

The delegates spent almost half of the First Session listening to oral reports5
of action taken in pursuit of the Mysore resolutions, which were looked upon
as a charter for forestry activities within the region, where countries were
seen to fall into four groups, each with particular conditions:

"In China, India, Pakistan and Ceylon, forest resources are extremely
limited, while populations were very large. Burma, Indochina and Indonesia are
relatively rich in forest resources, but political conditions since the war
have hampered re-establishment of forest output; so too in the case of Korea
before the present conflict started. Malaya, British Borneo, New Guinea, the
Philippines and Thailand are also rich in forests, and here postwar recovery
has been rapid. Japan is a category by itself, since it is the only country
in the region which has both large forest resources and highly developed and
diversified woodworking industries. Australia and New Zealand have much to offer
in experience and are very important exporters and importers of timber."

The criteria used for this classification reflect the
preoccupations of foresters during the 1950s on increasing the quantity and
quality of forests with a view to expanding timber production and trade.
Accordingly, the APFC included in its work program efforts to provide
information on the procurement of logging and sawmill machinery, initiatives to
reduce shipping rates for transporting forest products, coordination of research
on pulping of tropical woods, and the establishment of a mechanism for
exchanging forest seeds among member countries. The work program also called for
the compilation of annual progress reports from member countries dealing with
the place of forestry in the national economy, in particular giving details of
forest revenue and direct expenditures on improvement and development of the
national forest estate.

To further highlight the urgency for extending forest areas
and increasing forest products output, the Commission recommended that "all
member countries, with FAO assistance, base their immediate and long-range
forest management and utilization programmes on the integration of primary and
secondary forest industries where possible, aiming, within the limits of
economic practicability, at the fullest and most efficient use of all forest
products, including the utilization of logging and manufacturing waste." To
facilitate the planning of such development programs, the APFC delegates agreed
that the Commission Secretariat should compile statistics concerning timber
price trends and asked member governments to supply statistical material
annually.

The discussions of the second major item on the agenda were to
result in one of the Commissions most significant achievements during its
early period. When asked one day by a disciple, "If a king were to entrust you
with a territory which you could govern according to your ideas, what would you
do first?" Confucius replied, "My first task would certainly be to rectify the
names." He explained, "If the names are not correct, if they do not match
realities, language has no object. If language is without an object, action
becomes impossible - and therefore, all human affairs disintegrate and their
management becomes pointless and impossible. Hence, the very first task of a
true statesman is to rectify the names."

The corresponding impetus for our story was provided by the
Technical Meeting on Standardization of Nomenclature, Terminology, Testing
Methods, Grading and Dimensions of Timber, which was held five months prior to
the APFCs First Session. At that meeting, participants clearly placed
their hopes for finding a common language in their trade on the newly
established regional forestry commission. In response, the APFC promptly created
relevant subsidiary bodies to take up the challenge (see Annex C for a
complete list of APFC subsidiary bodies). Their accomplishments will be explored
in Chapter 4.

The most explicit manifestation of the APFCs regional
character was reflected in the Commissions deliberations on the
"Principles of Forest Policy" drawn up by FAO at the request of the Third World
Forestry Congress. While accepting the FAO principles as "a minimum on a
world-wide basis," the delegates adopted a separate statement defining these
principles with regard to the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, they recognized
"the vital role which forests play in the maintenance of the physical and
climatic conditions of a country, particularly their protective influence on the
soils and their stabilizing effect on water regimes; that forests constitute an
indispensable adjunct to agriculture which forms the chief occupation of the
bulk of the population of most countries in the region; and the part which
forests play in the sustenance of industry, maintenance of communications,
organizations of defense and other aspects of the economic life of a
country."

In all but one instance, the APFCs separate statement
sought to emphasize the most salient points of the Forest Principles,
particularly with regard to soil conservation and the close link to agriculture.
The only exception foreshadowed the difficulties many of the regions
governments and foresters would come to face in dealing with shifting
agriculture, as well as the criticism they would often attract in the process.
The APFC recommended that "the satisfaction of the rights of user, privileges
and bona fide needs of the local population should be subordinated (a) to the
overriding necessity for maintaining Protection Forests where
interests to be protected far outweigh the interests it may be necessary to
restrict; (b) to the wider interests such as national defense of the country as
a whole in the Production Forests; and (c) to their own interests in
the Agricultural Forests, to save these forests from
annihilation."

The management of forests [must] ensure their
protective and accessory functions not only in the interests of the existing
generation but also in the interests of those to come.

APFC, 1950

If the time for foresters to start reconsidering their roles
vis-à-vis rural communities had not yet arrived, there was at least a
strong consensus on the need to study these issues and exchange information and
opinions on a regional level. Accordingly, the APFC delegates incorporated into
their program of work a study of the problems of shifting agriculture and the
dissemination of information regarding its control, as well as a study of the
possibility of coordinating forest research and using existing research and
educational facilities on a regional basis.

Finally, the APFC members affirmed their interest in technical
cooperation through the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA), the
evaluation of which would become an important mandate of the APFC. The EPTA was
a response to United States President Trumans "Point Four proposals,"
which he had hinted at in his 1949 address to the Fourth FAO Conference. Only a
few months before the First APFC Session, at a UN Technical Assistance
Conference, FAO received the largest single share among UN agencies of the
contributions pledged by the attending governments. In anticipation of one of
the most persistent problems in international development, the APFC urged FAO
"to exert every effort to coordinate its program with bilateral programs of the
United States of America, the Commonwealth Technical Cooperation Scheme and the
programs of other governments and international agencies."

When the APFCs first Chairperson, Prince Suebsukswasti
Sukswasti of Thailand, formally closed the First Session at the end of the ninth
day, the framework for the new organizations mission had been given shape
through the deliberations of the regions highest-level foresters. Two
years later, the Commission would add a preamble to its Rules of Procedure
stating that "the purpose of the Commission is to coordinate national forest
policies on the regional plane, to the extent that this is proved desirable; to
exchange information and views on technical forestry problems of the region; and
to make appropriate recommendations to Governments and the Director-General of
FAO."

3 The name of the Commission was subsequently changed to Asia-Pacific
Forestry Commission.

4 These nations included Burma (independent in January 1948
from the UK; joined FAO in September 1947), Ceylon (February 1948 from
the UK; joined FAO in May 1948), India (August 1947 from the UK; joined
FAO in October 1945), Indonesia (August 1945 from the Netherlands; joined
FAO in November 1949) and the Philippines (July 1946 from the USA; joined
FAO in October 1945). Vietnam (September 1945 from France; joined FAO
in November 1950), Cambodia (November 1949 from France; joined FAO in
November 1950) and Laos (July 1949; joined FAO in November 1951) were
represented by the French Union because they had not yet become FAO members.

5 The delegates decided that for future sessions, countries
would be requested to prepare written progress reports in a predefined
format.